Multistrip kerfed-edge roofing.



W. F. M0KAY. MULTISTRIP, KERFED EDGE ROOFING.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 28, 1911.

Patented June 3, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

W. F. MoKA Y.

, MULTISTRIP, KERPED EDGE ROOFING.

APPLICATION FILED A UGJB, 1911.

Patented June 3, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENI "OFFICE.

\- wILLIAM F. McKAY, or LA GRANGE, ILLINOIS.

Appl ication filed August 28, 1911. Serial No. 646,526.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, \VIL IAM F. MoKAY, a citizen of the United States, residing at La Grange, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inMultistrip Kerfed- Edge Roofing, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvementsin roofing. and more particularly to the socalled prepared roofings in which the material employed to constitute the weatherresisting exterior surface of the roof consists of flexible, fibrous, felt-likematerial,

suitably weatherproofed,.and prepared inv the form of long sheets for attachment to the roof sheathing.-

One of the most serious ob ections to such prepared roofing material .is the dead.

and cheap appearance of the completed roof, that is to say," the unrelieved flatness and monotony of thelarge unbroken areas of the roof and the obviousness of the strip formation. Many efforts have been made for a longtime past jto-provide a roofingmaterial which would not be subject to these objections but which when laid would simulate in occular efi'ect roofs of tile, slate,

shingle or other of relatively. costly character. For instance, prepared roofinghas been provided in the'form of strips serrated or pointed on their lower edges to be laid .with succeeding courses having their points alternating and sometimes with the succeeding courses in contrasted colors, for simulation of a lozengel, or diamond-tile effect; other prepared-felt roofing material has been made up in the form of individual shingles, as a substitute for ordinary wooden shingles, and in some cases "the edge joints of strips of the ordinary sheet-form material. have been outlined with cement, or other substance of contrasting color to relieve the monotony of the roof. Each of these -methods seeking to overcome the objectionzreferred to, has been open to objection of 'increase in cost. in the laying of the roof and no prior roofing structure of the character described,-of which I' am aware, has provenartistically' satisfactory in itsfimitative effects. Furthermore,'in all roofings of which I am aware, heretofore made, it has been uni form' practice to make up the roofing in single strip form, securing each strip individually in place on the roof, where all work must be done by hand and where even Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented hand work is carried out in inconvenient positions and under conditions otherwise preventing the efiicient joining. of the strips into a complete roofing satisfactory in all respects.

My present invention contemplates a roofin'g material effectively simulating when laid, a shingle or slate roof, preferably constructed in sheet form composed of unitstrips, and which is simple and easy of manufacture, easily laid, and highly efiicient'in its protective value.

In the drawings, wherein I have illustrated an embodiment of my invention, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a laid roof; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary detail of a unit-strip; Fig. 3 is a view of the OP-Posite ends of two complete sheets separated; Fig. 4 shows said sheet-ends joined; Fig. 5 is a transverse section on line 55 of Fig. 4; F ig. 6 is a detail of a bottom-finishing strip; Fig. 7 is atlfragmentary detail of a crest finishing s rip. I

'In, Fig. '1, 10 indicatesin general a frame structure supporting the sheathing 11, on which the roofing 12 is laid. The roofing material, specifically. exemplified in the drawings, embodies a plurality of strips 14, which I may term unit-strips, each having the full width of that zone of the strip which is to be exposed upon the surface of the roof when laid, and extending deep enough below the surface of the material for sharp demarkation,'snch kerfs preferably extending through the strip from face to face. 1'

In the structure of the individual strip, I' prefer that its width be about double the width of the zone of exposure, and that the concealed Zone be of less thickness than the exposed z0ne. Thus, as shown in Fig. 2, I

,tudinal. zone 16, relatively thin, and with a parallel zone 17 of greater thickness, the kerf 15 being local to-the thicker zone 17 and extending deep enough into the mateof being composed of a number of separate blocks. In practical manufacture-I preferably construct the strips of a full-width base layer,.16, and a superposed thickeninglayer 17 intimately'united at factory so that the thicker port-ion is si'ibstantially homogeneous. Further, it is "my preference that the top ,surface for exposure of the zone 17, be of sheet which will be,

kerfs 15 at intervals extending substantially rial to give the exposed zone the appearance:

June3,1913.

preferably construct the strip with a longia lighter color than thebody of the material,

and to this end, I preferablyixma-ke the entire strip structure of black mateiigal, except for a superficial coating of lighter material on brown or other color appropriate for the simulation of slate or shingle colorings. The kerf I preferably cut clear .through the material from the thickened edge almost to the thinner zone.

While the individual strips 1a might be laid singly, following previous methods of applying prepared roofings, in which case only those advantages will be gained which arise from the construction of the. strip itself, I prefer that the complete article of manufacture, as marketed, shall be made up in the form of sheets, each compounded of a plurality of unit-strips, properly united and correlated, so that the roofing shall possess qualities unattainable by applying the strips one by one to the roof as heretofore. In the formation of such sheets, generally indicated at 20,1 use a suitable plurality of strips 14,

each having its thickened lower edge over- 'lapping'the thinner upper edge of the s lbjacent strip, and, preferably, overlappmg slightly the thicker zone of such lower strip. The strips are all of the same length, but

successive courses are arranged to bring the I 'k'erfs 15, of their pattern-cut edges, in staggering relation as indicated inFigs. 2 and 3, the strips beingsecured together with any suitable adhesive, such as asphalt cement, so that they are permanently united, preferably throughout their overlapped length.

In cementing the strips together, the adhe- 'sive is applied between each strip and the upper surface of the next subjacent strip entirely above the shoulder on said subja cent strip which divides its zones 16 and 17,

so that the extreme edges of the thicker I zones freely overlie the subjacent thicker zones, while the-remainder of each thicker I '.zone.is cemented to the underlying zone.

: When' the strips have been properly a rranged and the adhesive applied the whole is pressed by machinery to make a unit of the whole series of cemented parts. This results in'a sheet having a sol d impervious.

' I body-from edge to edge of the sheet (see Fig.5), while the upper surface provides a plurality of shingle-imitating members each I having a'free lower edge, but each efi'ectively secured above itsedge against flapping in the wind, as has been the case in similar 'noofings' as heretofore appl ed. Thus, when it is; considered'that the adhesive used may be-of-the same material as -was used in making the homogeneous'strips above described, and that the strips may be cemented and machine-pressed together at just the right degree of hardening of both the strip and adhesive, it'will be seen that the sheet resulting from the cementing of a plurality of strips inthemanner described will have a homogeneous body from edge to edge thereof. The "use of such adhesive in accordance with practice heretofore does not result'in such homogeneous-body, since to carry. out the previous practice the strips must be made and cooled for convenience in shipping and handling. the individual strips, and further since the adhesive so applied to the individual strips must be ofsuch a nature in regard to temperature, thickness, amount applied, etc., as to preclude" the attainment of the kind of sheet which may be provided in the manner I have described. The homogeneity .of the sheet of course makes it unnecessary to apply nails between the several rows of shingle-imitating members constituting the exposed surface of each sheet and this distinguishes the sheet herein described from that resulting'from individual. application of prepared strips where homogeneity is not attainable 'tfor reasons stated and where nails are indispensable. The shoulder provided on each strip of course makes easier the embodiment of the above ideas on account of its operation when the superposed strips are.bei ng machine-pressed. It may be possible, however, to provide a sheet,ha'vingthe essential features of thathere described by'the use of means analogous to the shoulder, my invention contemplating the use of strips and adheSive treated by machinery at temperatures, etc., to make a sheet having an exposed surface with its overlapping members and a body homogeneous from edge to edge. The

staggering relation,'or imbrication, of the strips leaves, at each end of the sheet, alternate strips protruding beyond the edge of what I may term the solidportion of the sheet, that is the portion in which the transverse overlappingexists, the protruding strip-ends 14* at one extremity of the sheet being portions of the second, fourth, etc., courses, and the ends 14'' protruding at the other extremity of the sheetbeing the first, third, etc., courses. These protruding ends are free from each other, and when the sheets are laid, as shown in Fig. 4, the protruding ends 14 and 14" are interlapped,

forming a broken lapped joint of advantageous characten' The sheets described are secured in place upon the sheathing 11 by nails 2l, the exposed heads of which are preferably substantially the same color as the surface of the zone 17 of the sheet.- i

. In laying a roof, an edge strip 14", as shown in Fig. 6, havi'ng preferably an unminterrupted edge surface may be preliminarily laid to underlie the lower course of the first sheet, and then the sheets are suc- .c'essi vely -laid to the crest of thereof, where an uninterrupted crest strip 14" (see Fig.- 5) may be placed to overlie the zones 16. of both -u sheets as illustrated i'n-Fig l. A roof l aid as above described is very closely imitative of shingle-or slate (ac-f cording to the color of t e exposed zones of the strips and the spacing of the kerfs) the sharpness of outline of the blocks or plates being enhanced by the blackjcolor of the edges thereof, and of the underlying zone of the subjacent course. I find that this sharpness of outline tends to' give to the laid roofing an appearance of thickness, which is very desirable, and that the completed roof structure combines a high degree of mechanical effectiveness with a very -pleasing a'ppearance.

that the butt ends 'or shingle-imitating members give the appearance of lying freely one over the other as shingles do, but in fact are effectively retained against flapping. must be done by hand upon the roof, and

without pressure, in which event the cement most advantageous to be used for joining the strips into a homogeneous sheet is cooled too'rapidly; nails must be applied to every strip to secure the joints between it and the adjacent strip, and other disadvantages arise from the inadequacy of hand Work, however skillful, to effect sufiicient sealing between the strips by means of cement alone while the strips are being applied on the roof. Thus the roofing applied in single strips cannot compare in eiiicienc-y with the sheets which are permanently united at the factory where the cement allowed to cool to just the right degree and the whole passed through pressure producing machinery to make the same a primarily-completed unit article of manufacture applicable as a whole to the 'roof, without necessitating perforation of its solid impervious body with nails unless desired for other reasons.

WVhat I claim is:- v

1. A plurality of substantially homogeneous overlappinglstrips eachnaving two distinct zones, a'thicker zonehaving its upper surface suitably treated and a thinner zone divided from the thicker zone by a shoulder near the longitudinal central line Yet when laid singly the cementing of the strip, said 'thi'cker zone suit-' ably kerfed-from its edge to pointsnearsaid shoulder the thinner zone constitutingan' adhesive-receiving surface for connection'of' the strip .to the strip next above it, the thicker or exposedzone of said upper strip to extend from the adhesive-receiving zone of the lower-strip a suitable distance beyond 'the shoulder freely to overlie the upper unkerfed portion of the exposed strip.

2. A prepared roofing strip 'kerfed at intervals from one: edge 1nw'ardly, the kerfed' portion constituting the exposed portion of said strip when in use on the roof, and the remaining portion constituting the overlain portion thereof, said overlain portion of the strip being reduced along a line above the ends o-f said kerfs, the upper surface of said exposed portion and the non-reduced overlain portion being suit-ably treated for thereof a homogeneous impervious body and an upper surface having overlapping shingle-imltating members, the portion of each member Which overlies the subjacent member lying freely thereabove and the remaining portion of said overlying member constituting a homogeneous portion of said body of the sheet.

4. An article of manufacture comprismg and an upper surface having overlapping shingle-imitating members, a portion of each member freely overlying the subjacent member and the remaining portion of said overlying member being homogeneous with said body of the sheet, the line at which each said member extends from homogeneity with the impervious body to overlie the subjacent. member lying uniformlyspaced from the extreme edge of said overlying member throughout the length of said sheet.

' 5. A unit prepa-red-roofing-sheet formed of a plurality of connected strips, each strip comprising a longitudinal exposed zone, suitably treated to simulate a roofing of shingle construction and partially over lain by the exposed zone of the stripnext above it, and a second longitudinal zone Wholly overlaid by the exposed zone of theond longitudinal zone overlaid by the exposed zone of the strip next above it,,the

upper surface of said second zone being depressedbelow that of the first, and an ad-' hesive material in the space above said depressed surface, each exposed zone extending slightly beyond the underlain zone and the interposed adhesive of the strip next below it to-provi'de for-said unit sheet a -body solid and imperforate longitudinally having shingle-imitating edges,arranged in overlappxing relation with an adhesive between te'underlying strip or strips having a delimiting shoulder restricting the application of adhesive to a point slightly within the overlapping margin of the superadjacent strip.

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM F. MoKAY.

In the presence of e W. LINN ALLEN, "MARY F. ALLEN. 

